No. 15 Oklahoma St. 77, North Texas 58

<br>STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ Oklahoma State opened the first half looking like a team that had recently played three games in three days. All that changed in the second half. <br><br>Melvin Sanders and

Sunday, November 25th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ Oklahoma State opened the first half looking like a team that had recently played three games in three days. All that changed in the second half.

Melvin Sanders and Victor Williams keyed a 25-5 run at the start of the second half to help lead No. 15 Oklahoma State to a 77-58 victory over North Texas on Saturday night.

``The only disappointing things in the first half was our inability to hit free throws and the number of easy shots we missed underneath,'' Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said. ``We could have had a sizable lead. I was proud of the way they responded to a do-better talk at half time. They came out and really played well.''

The Cowboys (6-0) shot just 34 percent in the first half and trailed 37-35 at halftime. But Sanders got them going in the second half with two layups and a 3-pointer, and Williams added eight points _ including a pair of 3-pointers.

Williams finished with 15 points, Sanders 14 and Ivan McFarlin and Andre Williams each had 12 for the Cowboys.

Chris Davis scored 18 to lead North Texas (1-1), which had 23 turnovers.

``We needed to come out and get on them early but we didn't,'' Andre Williams said. ``Luckily, we came out in the second half and played like we should.

``Coming from Las Vegas, we couldn't ride our emotions and have a letdown.''

The Cowboys were coming off a stretch of three games in three days at a tournament in Las Vegas. They were sluggish early but squelched any thoughts of an upset with the second-half surge.

``They got after us, especially with our young team,'' Davis said. ``After those first five or six minutes, we hung with them tight and didn't let them get more of a lead on us.''

After a big run gave Oklahoma State a 60-42 lead, North Texas got no closer than 15.